Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch screen panel detecting a capacitive touch input applied by a finger or a touch input means having conductivity similar to the finger, and more particularly, to a touch screen panel having a structure capable of preventing the touch screen panel from being damaged due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) or overvoltage.
Discussion of the Background
Generally, a touch screen panel is formed in or coupled to display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) and is one of the input devices that generate position signals corresponding to positions where objects such as a finger and a pen are touched. The touch screen panel has been used in wide applications such as small portable terminals, industrial terminals, and digital information devices and the use field thereof is expanding.
A capacitive touch screen panel is a device for determining whether the touch screen panel is touched based on a change of an electrical signal formed by capacitance that is generated between a finger or a touch input tool having conductivity like the finger and a touch pattern of the touch screen panel.
According to the existing touch screen panel as disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-374312 (Jun. 14, 2014), touch pads formed with a touch patterns have a matrix structure (FIG. 1) in which a plurality of columns and rows are disposed and one side of the touch screen panel is provided with a touch integrated circuit (IC), and the respective touch pads are connected to the touch IC through sensor signal lines.
The existing touch screen panel includes a plurality of touch pads that are included in columns or rows. Here, a resistance value varies with a distance between the respective touch pads and the touch IC, even in the sensor signal lines connecting between the same columns or the same rows.
At this point, the sensor signal line connected to the touch pad that is close to the touch IC has a lower resistance value than the sensor signal line connected to the touch pad that is far from the touch IC, and therefore the touch pad that is close to the touch IC may be damaged due to the electrostatic discharge (ESD) introduced into the touch screen panel or the overvoltage generated from the touch IC.